Anyone but Him
by AzzaBby
Summary: Sam doesn't leave Gabriel with Lucifer and stands up for his archangel but will Gabriel survive, and what will happen to Sam? Rated M for a reason people, but it is only at the end.


_**So I was lying in bed, ignoring the fact that my head is still spinning from painkillers and decided to write this cuz I could. Well… enjoy! Reviews are candy, and we all know how much our Gabe likes candy ;)**_

_**Anyone but him**_

Sam watched the angel fling the devil across the room, his amber eyes hard and looking as good as always. For that thought alone, he knew he should take the angel-killing blade he had "borrowed" and stab himself in the face – hell, if his brother knew he had thought **that** he would do it for him!

"Luci… I'm home," Gabriel announced in way of greeting once his older brother had stood to see who had dared to attack him. Gabe stood his ground, glaring at Lucifer. When the devil made a move to come forwards, he raised his own Archangel's blade and held it between them, showing how fearless he was. "Not this time."

Lucifer lowered his arms and took a step back, keeping his damaged eyes on his little brother, taking in each movement in great detail, looking for ways to try and win this fight. His eyes stayed locked on Gabriel as the golden haired man bent down and helped up the insufferable Kali to her feet, pulling her behind him to keep her safe, and wrapping an arm around her. "Guys," he spoke again, this time to the Winchesters hidden behind a table nearby, "get her out of here." The Winchester brothers stood and walked to Kali, Dean taking her arm and Sam following.

Sam got to the hallway and whispered "go on ahead," to Dean, ignoring his brothers' eyes as he spoke. "I'll catch up."

"No way, Sam. Not for that dick-"

"Go, Dean." He pushed Kali ahead and Dean followed instinctively, glaring at his brother before he turned the corner and left the motel. Sam kept his back to the wall, but tilted his head so he could see into a mirror, hidden in the top corner of the hallway, giving a clear view of the room the two Archangels were currently stood in. Thank the Gods that those Pagan gods were sneaky little-

"Over a girl, Gabriel. Really?" Lucifer asked, turning with Gabriel as he made sure the Winchesters and the Demi-god were safe. "I heard you were slumming but… I hope you didn't catch anything," he replied, wrinkling his nose in distaste as he raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Lucifer…" the man in question lowered his arms again at the shorter mans words, "you're my brother and I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks."

Sam had to cover his mouth to hide the grin and chuckle that were begging to be let out.

"What did you just say to me?" Lucifer growled, stepping forwards and back again as Gabriel raised his blade again.

"Look at yourself! **Boo-hoo! **'Daddy was mean to me so I'm going to smash up all his toys."

"Watch your tone-"

"Play the victim all you want. But you and me," he indicated with the sword, "we know the truth. Dad loved you best; more than Michael, more than me. Then he brought the new baby home and you couldn't handle it. So all **this** is just a great big **temper tantrum!" **He waved the blade again and kept his gaze on his brother. "Time to grow up."

"Gabriel, if you are doing this for Michael-"

"Screw him! If he were standing here, I'd shiv his ass too!"

The devil started at this, letting out an angry huff of breath and raised a hand to point at his sibling. "You disloyal-"

"Oh, I'm loyal. **To them**!"

"Who? These so-called Gods?"

"To **people**, Lucifer. People."

"So you're willing to die, for a pile of cockroaches. Why?"

"Because Dad was right. They are better than us-"

"They are **broken, flawed abortions!"**

"Damn right they're flawed… But a lot of them try; to do better… to forgive…" and then, to give it some of the Trickster charm, he smiled, "and you should see the spearmint rhino." He let his smirk vanish and he pulled back his calm façade. "I've been riding the pine a **long** time, but I'm in the game now. And I'm not on your side, or Michaels. I'm on theirs!" he quirked his eyebrow as those final words escaped his lips.

Sam, by now, was barely holding himself back, knowing that if he jumped in now, both he and the angel would almost certainly die, and he could not have that. That could never happen. Dean needed him, and Sam needed his angel… Hell, maybe he should just stab himself in the face-

"Brother don't make me do this," Lucifer whispered, his voice low and pained, although everybody knew it was a lie. He was the devil, for Christ's sake!

"No-one can make us do anything."

"I know you think that you are doing the right thing, Gabriel. But I know where your heart truly lies."

Behind him, another Gabriel appeared, crouching slightly and walking silently forwards, Angel blade raised and ready to strike. The second he was about to bring it down into the devils back, Lucifer turned and forced the blade into Gabriel's chest, standing eye-to-eye with him. "**Here.**"

Sam let out a scream, but neither angel seemed to notice. He rushed forward and brought his own blade into Lucifer's chest and was replied with a gurgling as blood filled his airways and escaped from his mouth, a blinding white-blue light erupting from his body. The older angel fell to the floor, his black wings outlines his dead body as he took his final breath.

"Gabe!" Sam cried, rushing forwards to take the mumbling angel in his arms as his knees gave out and pulled them both to the floor. Gabriel's hair was falling forwards and his green jacket was quickly turning red with the escaping blood. "No, no! Gabe! Stay with me!"

Gabriel, the youngest of the Archangels, Trickster impersonator, Loki extraordinaire, lay gasping for breath, his eyes wide and staring into Sam's eyes with pain so intense that Sam had to look away, even if it was only for a moment.

"C'mon, Gabe. You can't die; you just can't!" He began to put as much pressure around the wound, but he dare not remove the blade in case it caused any more damage. "Castiel! Uriel! Michael!" Sam began to scream to the ceiling, listing every angel name he could remember in hope of help. He could not have Gabriel die! "Zachariah! Joshua! Anna! Raphael!" As the archangel in his arms went silent, eyes staring into Sams going distant and unseeing before they closed, Sam screamed and tears fell down his cheeks. "Angels, dear god, help me! Angels watching over us. Yeah – angels watching over us," he began to chant pulling Gabriel up so his body was lying awkwardly over the human, blood marring his clothes too.

"Release him, Winchester," a rough voice ordered from behind Sam, but he barely noticed it; all of his attention was on the dead or dying – no! He was only injured! – man atop him. He didn't hear the angel stomp over to them and grab both men's arms and angel-zapping them away. The room around them disappeared, instantly replaced with paper white walls and the harsh smell of disinfectant. People rushed past, unseeing of them until the angel who had brought them there started throwing orders around. "Izra'il, we need you over here. Zuriel, shift your arse!" It was only now that Sam noticed the accent the new angel had, British with a slight French twang to it.

Two men from the opposite end of the hallway looked up and met the angels eyes before disappearing and reappearing beside them. "What happened?" the taller man –angel, he corrected – asked, taking grip of Gabriel and taking him away from Sam.

Sam was about to start screaming and throwing punches as the second angel disappeared and the Brit took his arm, zapping him to a hospital room with Gabriel lying on the bed, tubes sticking out of his body and naked spare for the blanket on his waist, the angel blade still imbedded in his chest.

"Ask the Winchester," the Brit deadpanned, smirking at the look the other two angels gave the human, full of wonder and shock. "He called – I just so happened to be listening."

"Lucifer…" was all he could manage, unconsciously going to make a move towards his injured friend before the Brit stopped him. He glanced up to look at the angel who had heard him and gave him the only look he could manage: blank and empty.

The angel had light hair and the beginning of stubble, with faint lines at the edge of his eyes from years of smiling. He was wearing a black coat over a light blue vest. He looked… snobby. The accent didn't help.

"Luci got a little sword happy with Gabby," the angel smirked again, placing a hand on Sams arm to keep him still when he would have made another move closer to the bed. "So Sammy got a little sword happy with Luci." The angels working on Gabriel stopped, one with a syringe in his hand dangerously close to the man whilst not concentrating. "Be more careful, Izra'il."

The darker skinned man turned back to what he was doing and inserted the needle into the man, something Sam turned around so he didn't have to see.

"You… you attacked Lucifer?" the taller angel asked, stepping towards the human to look him over, only the way a doctor could. "How did you escape?"

"Archangels blade would be more precise than sword," the Brit answered, grinning full out now, showing rows of straight white teeth. "His wings will be dusted off the floor soon enough."

"Lucifer's… Samuel Winchester, you killed the devil?" The tall man raised a hand, and in the most human gesture he had ever seen an angel do, he grabbed the humans hand and shook it fiercely. "Congratulations, boy! You stopped the apocalypse! You saved the world!" He noticed after a moment or two that the held he held was lifeless, held no grip, no strength. The boy was in shock. "Sleep, Winchester. We will do what we can with Gabriel. You have my world that we will do our best." And with that, he placed two fingers against Sam's forehead and knocked him out.

Sam slumped forward into the man as the world went black and was laid in a chair which was snapped into existence in the corner of the room. The tall man made sure the hunter wouldn't be too uncomfortable then turned to glare at the Brit. "What happened, Balthazar?"

"I told you," the man responded, leaning idly against the wall nonchalantly. "Sammy was calling angels. His mothers' usual chant, to be precise. I liked to check in on her back in the day, and when I heard his call, I went. I tried to get him to let go of our brother but he wouldn't so I brought them both here. You know the rest, Zuriel."

"Michael will not be happy - but when has he ever been? This is good news for Earth. Good news for us."

"If you suppose."

"You sided with Lucifer?"

"Hardly, brother. I just see no point to their fighting." He took a pained look at what remained of his older brother on the bed and gave a silent sigh which nobody else – thankfully – heard. "Will he be alright?"

"I don't think so," Izra'il muttered from beside Gabriel, his sleeve rolled up and forearm embedded in the archangels' chest, the knife still in place above it. "His grace is practically destroyed, and the blade is too far in, it is scratching it. If we want to save him… it ain't gonna be pretty, to be nice."

"I trust you both will do your best, though. I shall leave you to it," and with that he disappears.

"Jackass," Zuriel and Izra'il mutter together, grinning when they heard the other say it before turning serious and setting to work on their brother.

Sam groaned as the angel left him alone in his room. It was not unpleasant in the slightest; he just wished to be closer to Gabriel. "Please," he begged the dark skinned man. "Let me stay with him."

The man was shorter than Gabriel, and that was surely saying something for how little the guy was. He looked weathered, with his salt and pepper hair and ancient grey eyes, but there was a youth in him which could never be denied when he laughed with you.

"Ask Zuriel – if I say yes, I do not wish to have his wrath aimed at me." He disappeared for a moment before being replaced by the other angel, whom he had to assume was Zuriel.

"Winchester? Izra'il told me your intentions, and I must say no, I am afraid. I apologise," and he too, disappeared. A few moments later he returned, but now he was accompanied by a woman with raven coloured hair and blue eyes. She had to be related to Castiel they looked so alike, but it was only their vessels so-

"Samuel, I have told Zuriel to let you stay with Gabriel for allotted amounts of time that shall be deemed reasonable. I feel that this is only fair-" she began, cutting off when Sam jumped towards her with a grin on his face.

"Thank you!" he went to hug her, but that strange look of confusion all angels and puppies seemed to own crossed over her face so he stepped back. "Can I see him now?"

Zuriel would have looked livid, if his neutral face could have shown it, but his eyes still blazed. He nodded stiffly and held out his hand to the human with a withheld tremor of anger. Sam quickly reached forwards and instantly found himself back in the angels' room.

He left the angels and walked to the bed, ignoring the doctor who was stood on the opposite side, checking something on his shoulder and sat in the chair which had appeared there for him. He looked at Gabriel and nearly let a few tears shed, but held them in, for the other angels sake as well as his own.

He took Gabriels right hand in both of his and held it there, trying to give him some of his warmth into his frozen fingers. The angel was still asleep, still motionless. Sam barely noticed that all the angels left him to be alone with his Trickster. He was too busy willing those golden eyes to open.

"Sam, how are you today?" Izra'il asks, stepping into his room and taking a seat at the end of the bed.

"I'm fine. How is Gabriel?" Sam shuffles beneath the covers, trying to sit up and brush the sleep from his eyes.

"He is still unconscious," the angel doctor answered, giving him a sad look. He had made the mistake of telling Sam that at most it should take Gabriel a few days to wake. Now, three and a half weeks on, it was practically certain that the angel would not recover from his run in with the devil. But nobody had the heart to tell the human. Nobody had the heart to stop trying to save him. "But he is physically healed now. There should be no outward issues if he awakens."

**If.** The word echoed in Sams mind as he kept his gaze levelled with the angels. He knew they wouldn't tell him anything, but he knew that Gabe probably wouldn't make it, and he appreciated that they were trying to keep him happy, but he wanted the truth. Wanted to hear that Gabriel was going to die so he could expect it. But he didn't ask for it; he needed this hope to keep him sane.

Sam didn't know what they were telling the others in the hospital about why he was here, but he was grateful about it. He just stayed in the room until one of the angels came round and took him to Gabriel. Then he came back to his room and waited for the next day to come.

"Are you ready to –"

The swish of wings stopped him as Zuriel appeared besides him, a grin on his face and the spattering of blood on his cheek. "You're welcome," he chuckled, wiping absently at the stain. "He is waking."

"How did you –"

"I've been feeding him my grace, Samuel. Not nice, not pretty, not comfortable. But the man, although a coward and a runaway, is my brother. It was taking too long, and I was getting impatient. As were you. So you're welcome." He held out his hand and waited for Sam to take it, the scene around them changing as they moved. They didn't go to Gabriels room, but behind the mirror which sat opposite his bed, hiding the on looking doctors from his gaze. "We will keep you here until we are certain he is safe. We do not know whether he will be able to keep control of his powers, his strength. He could go to shake your hand and pull your arm off, for all we know. When we know that he is alright, you shall be the first we allow to visit him," he promised, disappearing from beside Sam and into Gabe's room opposite.

The man in the bed still had his eyes closed, but his hands were twitching on the covers, his lips mumbling words unheard. He was going to be okay. If any of the other three doctors in the room noticed Sam shed a tear, they didn't comment. They left him to look at the fallen angel in silence.

"Gabriel?" Izra'il asked, placing the back of his fingers against the injured mans forehead, checking his temperature. "It is okay, brother, we have you. You are safe now."

Those amber coloured eyes opened and met the angels beside him. "Brother… Why am I here?" he asked, his voice quiet and scratchy from not using it in a while, his hand trailing up his chest to trace the prominent scar which was embedded there – a scar his elder brother caused. "Lucifer… he **killed** me…"

"Not quite," he answered. "He was stopped from causing too much damage. Balthazar heard Samuels prayers and brought you-"

"Samuel!?" the angel gasped, bolting upright and screaming in pain as he did so. The doctor forced him back down and gave him a moment to recover. "Please say you don't mean Sam Winchester." His voice was quite, barely a whisper, but Sam heard him; heard the plea in his words.

"Yes, Sam Winchester," Zuriel replied, sitting at the edge of the bed, looking into his brothers eyes, searching for what that meant to him. "He didn't leave. Dean took Kali away, but Sam stayed for you. He faced Lucifer-"

"Enough." The voice was still low but it rang with authority as the angel lowered his head, his honey tinted hair hiding his face from everybody.

"But, Gabriel-"

The archangel waved his hand, a motion unknown to the man as he usually snapped his fingers, and both doctors found a thick piece of duct tape closed over their mouths. The man looked at both of them with fire in his eyes. "Neither of you will speak of the Winchesters. Ever, in my presence. Understand me, brothers?" They nodded and with another snap, they vanished.

Gabriels eyes changed the moment they disappeared, the fire in them being replaced with a sadness Sam knew too well. He was grieving. Admittedly, as much of a douche Lucifer was, he was still Gabe's brother, and it must hurt to think of him as dead now.

But they hadn't said Lucifer was dead, had they? Had they said what the outcome had been? Sam couldn't remember. He was too focussed on watching as the archangel curled up into his blanket and hid from the world. He needed space, time to mourn.

"Can I stay here?" he asked one of the angels behind him, not bothering to turn to face them. He had asked before, but they had said that it was pointless, watching the angel suffer whilst still unconscious. They kept reminding him it would be boring, that there was no need for him there but he insisted, although they still denied.

A woman in a white lab-coat came to stand beside him and gestured to a chair that had been moved from the room behind the glass into there and gave him a small smile. "Give him some time, Samuel. He is still recovering. The grace exchange will blow his emotions away. Give him time."

He nodded his thanks and turned back to watch the angel in the bed, silent sobs and barely there tremors alerting Sam to the mans distress, but he understood that he could not go to him. Gabe needed to rest. And that was all he could give him right now.

Three days later and the angel had yet to move. He was still hidden under the covers and silent when Balthazar dropped by without warning or invitation. "Quit moping, Gabby, and get your midget arse out of bed."

Gabriel did not move but his soft voice woke Sam from his slumber behind the screen. "Screw you, Balthy. I've saved your ass more times than I can count. Leave me in my misery."

The angel did not back down though. Instead, he grabbed the sheet and pulled it down to reveal Gabe's body, pale and blood spattered. He had been clean before but the new arrival was too bothered with other things. "You really need to get out of here. There are people who care about you – even if you did fuck everything up and abandoned ship! So what if someone died? People die everyday, Gabriel. You more than anybody should know that! Suck up and deal, brother."

"He meant more to me than most, though, Balthy. Why can you not see that?" he asked, brushing a weary hand through his hair and finally fixing his gaze on the man before him with tearful golden, red rimmed eyes.

"I do see that, and that is why I am here. I am your 'wing man,' I believe the phrase is," he grinned, stepping back and pointing at the archangel. "Now put some clothes on. Not that you look bad, but I don't really want to see you in your boxer shorts, now, brother."

Gabriel glared at him for a moment before waving his hand and manifesting his usual wear; dark green jacket, jeans, tight fitting shirt. Sam had to swallow at the sight, sitting up straighter in his chair watching him as Gabe sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He made no move to stand but watched as Balthazar watched him with a strange glow.

"What?" Gabe asked after a few awkward minutes in silence. "Have I got chocolate on my face, or something?"

"What do you think happened?" he answered after another minute, watching the archangel with assessing eyes. "At the pagans place. What happened? What can you remember?"

Gabriel took a moment to think through his words, and Sam nearly screamed at the suspense. The silence was killing him but when Gabriel began to talk, he realised that his fists had been clenched hard enough to draw blood from his stumpy little nails.

"I created a copy of me, an image. I got it to talk to Luci, say all the things I never could to his face while I told the Winchesters to get Kali and get out while they could. Before he could make a meat suit out of Sam and mince meat out of Dean." His tone was sombre and dull, nothing like the usual peppy, bubbly way of the Trickster he had grown to hate and love. It was killing Sam to see (or in this case, hear) him like that. "While Luci and the clone were talking, I snuck in behind them and hid, waiting 'til it seemed like he was completely distracted. Then I went in. I went over to them, but when I went to stab him, he turned the blade on myself. I thought I heard something scream and then… the pain was too much. I woke up here. That's it."

"So… let me get this straight. You said you were going to kill Lucifer yourself, so why all this?"

"I do not understand, brother?"

"Why all this moping if you planned for Lucifer to die? You were expecting it to happen, even prepared to do so by your own hand. So…"

"But it wasn't Lucifer was it?" he groaned, dropping his head into his hands and sighing. "Lucifer deserved to die but Sam-"

Balthazar vanished from the room and was replaced with Zuriel, looking beyond livid now. His arms were folded and he was tapping his foot as he assessed the archangel. "Glad to see you are up, brother, but you don't want to overdo it."

"But Balthazar-"

"-came here without our permission. And now, he is probably going to get me into more grief," he growled, darting a look to the mirror, looking just to the left of Sam. "Gabriel, you need to relax. Too much stress could cause a relapse and your body could reject my grace. Then you die. And I am not dealing with the repercussions of **that**,either." Again, he glanced towards where he supposed Sam would be and sighed. "Back in bed, brother. Now."

Gabriel nodded, and slid his legs back onto the bed, lifting his hand and shifting the sheets back over him without touching them. He settled back and shut his eyes, letting the doctor hover over him like a mother hen for a moment before speaking, his eyes remaining shut and his body still. "Why does our Father do this, Zuriel? Why does he do stupid things to good people?" A tear escaped his closed eyelid but he made no move to brush it away. "I can understand if he felt the need to punish me, but the Winchesters were good people… Did Dean make it out alright?"

"Yes, he made it out. So did Kali, in case you were wondering," he smirked, his hand above Gabriels chest glowing as he examined the man. "She was not very happy that you were the one to save her, you should know."

"Screw Kali; she meant nothing to me."

"Yet you were willing to go in there to save her?"

He cracked open one of his eyes a smidge to glare at his brother. "Why am I telling you this?"

"Everybody needs someone to talk to. I talk to Izra'il. He talks to Joshua, mainly. You can feel free to talk to me… Not everything is as it seems, brother. Once you are healed completely, say in a few more days, and then you can leave. Feel free to go smite some unlucky souls and work off that wrath we all know you have. Just don't take it out on us here, all right?" The archangel just shut his eye and ignored the man, in reply.

Sam watched everything with a hint of jealously and anger. The trickster thought… did he think that Sam had died, not Lucifer? Well, if that was the case, then why did he cry these past few days; why did he mourn? Sam, in his eyes, was just another human who had tried to kill him on several occasions, was the cause of his almost-death and was his brothers' true vessel… **was** being the correct word. He couldn't have meant anything to Gabriel. So why all of that?

A woman in a white lab coat came to place a hand on his shoulder and handed him a plate with a sandwich on. He took it readily and turned to smile at her. Her eyes were the coolest of greys and her hair the darkest of blues, dyed some point before she had taken the vessel, her copper skin freckled and creased to show her dimples as she smiled at him. "Eat up, Winchester. I do not have to wish to admit you, also."

"Thank you, Angela," he returned, smiling back and taking a bite of his lunch to appease her before she leant against the glass to watch him.

"He is fine, you know. It is only the surges in his grace which are making him so emotional. Give him time-"

"I am done giving time. I want to see him. As in, **really** see him. Face to face, like we did before he woke up. I want to tell him what happened and let him know that I am alive, that I am sorry for his loss but that I am not sorry that Lucifer is dead. I want to…"

"You want to hold his hand and tell him that everything is going to be alright. You want to brush his hair away from his face and simply look into his eyes because you know that it would be enough. You want him to love you, too. I understand, Samuel. Trust me, angels can love, despite what our father wishes. We all want to feel emotion. Most of us are not cut out for it, though**. **Gabriel is an exception; do not let him go easily."

She stood up and took Sams empty plate from him, ignoring him when he began to stutter out denials in a half-hearted attempt at keeping some normality to his life. "Forget it, Winchester. Tomorrow, I shall let you see him. I shall talk to Zuriel and Izra'il, but I am certain they will agree with me. Our brother is almost physically healed. It is his heart we cannot help him with, in my view – that is what is keeping him from a full recovery." Again, she ignored his mumblings and held up a hand to silence him as she glared at him. "But you break my brothers' heart, human, and I break your face." And with that, she vanished to only she knew where.

Sam slept well that night, preparing for what lay ahead of him the next day.

Sam woke up to the sound of silence, a welcome surprise. He pulled himself to his feet and stretched, loud cracks echoing from his aching joints. A male angel was in the room with him, but neither acknowledged the other, more focussed on what lay before them than the other man next to them.

Sam took the glass of water which was on the table by his side, like every morning, and downed the whole tumbler in a single gulp, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth to dispel any remnants of the liquid.

Through the window, he could see Gabriel, sat up in bed, looking at the mirror intently as if trying to see through it. His hands were clenched and he appeared to have more blood on him than before.

Sam, being forever the fool he was, moved a few paces to the left so as to be inline with the angels stare. Although it wasn't ideal, it would do for the moment.

"Morning," Angela greeted, appearing by his side, with a bowl of cereal which she quickly shoved into his hands. "How are you today, Samuel?"

"I am fine," he replied, taking a mouthful of cornflakes but keeping his eyes locked on the man in the opposite room.

"Yes, you can, today," the angel beside him grinned, as if reading his thoughts. "I spoke to Izra'il and along with Rosemary - Zuriel's mate – we have gotten Zuriel to agree to it also. But only on the condition that Rosemary and I are to keep an eye on Gabriel at all times, and we are to give him warning beforehand. I am sure that is acceptable with you?"

Sam nodded, nearly choking on his food as he hurried to finish it. He left half of it as he felt ill, his stomach churning on his thoughts, on his worries. What would Gabe do if he saw him? Would he be mad about his brother? Would he want Sam to leave?

"Stop, Winchester," she commanded after a few moments, taking the bowl from the giant and laying it on the table. "Rosemary will be here soon, alright? Do not panic."

Too late, Sam smiled to himself as his heart rate raced and his palms began to sweat. Angela reached up as high as she could and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

As if proving a point, the Castiel-lookalike in female form whom had told Sam that he could see Gabriel appeared in the room opposite, nodding at the mirror before sitting beside the archangel and smiling at him. "Hello again, brother. It has been too long."

The man met her with his golden eyes and glared at her, causing her to stiffen in her seat. "Hello Rose. What do you want? Zuriel let you in here, or you manage to sneak past that winged ass-monkey?"

"A lot has changed since you left, Gabriel. That 'winged ass-monkey' is now my mate. And I came here to give you news."

The man snorted, turning back to the glass, peering unknowingly directly into Sams eyes. The human had to take a step back to keep his footing, but Angela took his arm and kept him there. "Mating between angels? I am surprised. I thought you guys up here had a thing for hating on that sort of stuff?"

"It is a suitable match, I find. We care enough about the other to be happy and each of us is willing to step in when the other is unreasonable – mainly me when he is being an ass," she grinned as her brother chuckled along with her. "But I have come here to tell you something. We all came to an agreement that it was better for you to see the man in person rather than to keep you separated." At those words, his eyes narrowed, waiting for her to continue. "The Winchesters- no don't you dare, brother!" she chided when he went to raise his hand. "Let me finish! The Winchesters are stupid, even by humanities standards. But I am not afraid to see that what Samuel did was incredibly brave, unlike most of my siblings, and most certainly his. I believe things will be better if you speak to the other survivor of the hotel, do you not agree?"

"Y-y-" he stuttered, jerking upright, and grasping at her wrist so she met his eyes. "You wish to bring Lucifer **here**?! You are asking for the apocalypse, aren't you?! Father, I should have known-"

"Clearly I am not as well trained with my words as I believed," Rosemary cut him off, turning her incredible blue eyes to the mirror and smiling. "Angela, can you come here, please?"

Angela turned to Sam smiling. "Ready?" she asked, holding out her hand, waiting the heartbeat it took for Sam to take it before shimmering into the next room, on the opposite side of the glass, still in the sight of the angels.

Sam just stood there, wearing the same clothes he had been wearing for only the angels knew how long, his hair unkept and knotted, and his dark eyes meeting Gabriels instantly as they appeared. The angel on the bed just stared at him, golden honey meeting dark hazel as they looked deep into the others eyes, neither seeming to be able to move.

"Sam killed Lucifer," Rosemary continued, standing and meeting Angela half way across the room. "He has been waiting here since the incident, Gabriel. He couldn't leave you." Still, nobody moved so the women gave each other an exasperated look and the darker haired one continued. "We will give you some privacy. But either of you tell my husband, and I… We will leave you be," she smiled, leaving the threat relatively unheard. Both women left, leaving the human and the angel locked in a staring competition.

Neither spoke or moved; Sam stayed stood near the one way window and the angel in his bed with the covers up to his waist. Gabriel won the staring match, being an angel and all, but Sam still didn't blink, didn't let his gaze wander. He had waited around a month now for this, but now it was here, he was in shock, frozen.

"I have this horrid feeling that if I blink, I am going to wake up and find you gone, and that I am dead, or with Luci…" the archangel whispered after around ten minutes of staring, his fists clenched in the blankets and a tear slipping from his eye as he stared at the moose of a man. "Sam…"

"I'm here, Gabriel," he choked out, his hand twitching as he gained back the ability to move. "And by no way in hell am I leaving now," he growled, starting across the room towards the bed.

The angel seemed to have the same idea, as he pushed the covers back and jumped off the bed, meeting Sam half way across the room, jumping into the humans arms so he could be lifted and held close, making up for the height difference. He pressed his face against the human's neck, inhaling his musky scent of rain and oak wood, and held on as tight as he thought the man could handle, wrapping his legs around his waist and letting all the tears he had held onto stain the humans already ruined shirt. "Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam," he muttered, sobbing outright and squeezing the man as the human wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer, ignoring that there may have been people watching in the other room. Both were oblivious to anything except the other man, as Sam placed his chin atop the angels honey coloured hair and muttered "Gabe, my Gabe," back to him.

It took a while for them to get used to the idea that the other wasn't going to vanish, and by that point Sam had sat on the bed with the angels legs still coiled around him, crossed over his back and feet locked there so he couldn't escape. Sam didn't mind in the slightest – if it had been the other way around, he would have done exactly the same thing.

Gabriel pulled back first, once all the tears had worn off and he had removed any trace of them by wiping his cheeks against Sam's collar. He kept his arms around Sam's neck as he met his gaze, still shimmering with water and emotion. "Sammy… what did you do?"

"I stayed. I saw everything, but when I saw him turn on you… I ran in. I killed him and Balthazar heard my calls to angels and brought us here. I couldn't lose you, Gabriel," he admitted, looking down so the angel didn't see how much he cared for him. "I killed your brother. And… I don't even think that I am sorry."

"I don't care, Sam. I have spent the past five days believing you to be dead, and the thought alone… I could not deal with that. I could not live in a world where you did not exist. I need you, Winchester; alive and kicking, taking down monsters and keeping my heart safe." The taller mans head snapped back up, gaze connecting like it was meant to be there, locked on the other. "Yeah Sam, you heard right. You have my heart; you have ever since Mystery Spot, and you always will. Knowing that you are doing some good in the world and are alive is enough to me. Do not feel pressured, Moosey, I am not expecting us to ride off into the sunset, I just had to say it. I couldn't not tell you. I thank you for making sure I was alright and saving my life, though. I am in your debt."

He unhooked his legs and made a move to get off the man, but Sam pulled him back, raising a hand to thread his fingers through the angel's long hair and pulling him closer until their breaths were mingling and brushing against the others lips. "You really think I waited here, alone, without a decent shower or food or a change of clothes just to make sure you were **alright**? You really are stupid."

The words hurt the angel, and it was clear in his expression that he had not expected such words from Sam, but the human just ignored it. He continued, purposefully breathing heavily against the angels' skin, taking one of the mans hands and pressing his lips to the cuts there, small crescents his nails had dug, removing the blood with his mouth.

"Gabriel, you are so obtuse and stupid, and you should be immensely fat for the amount of candy you eat. You play ridiculous pranks and never know when to shut your pie hole. **But…** you are caring when push comes to shove, and you are full of love, even if you don't know how to express it. You are funny and cute and-"

"You think I'm cute?" he butted in, lifting his arms so his palms were resting on Sams chest, his right one laying directly on top of Sams heart, able to feel its racing beating.

"Shut your pie hole," Sam ordered, rolling his eyes and chuckling to himself. He could expect nothing else from his angel. **His** angel, he grinned, ignoring the confused look that crossed Gabriels features. "Gabe, you are mine, and if I have to spend the rest of my life proving that you belong to me, then I shall do so, if it means I get to be with you for as long as I live. I don't care. I love you, and I was willing to go against the damned devil to keep you alive, and conquered him. If I have to go up against the rest of hell to prove it to you, then I will. Tell me what I gotta do and I'll do it. Just… give us a chance. Don't go running off."

Sam could see the man was in no state to answer, so he just leant forward the few scant inches and forced their lips together, feeling how soft Gabe was beneath his hands as he pressed their bodies as tight as he could, tracing a hand down the archangels back, one hand now holding his rear whilst the other was still gripping his hair, making him unable to escape.

It took around half a second for Gabriel to catch up, kissing back with more force than Sam could ever give, bruising the hunters lips and running his tongue along afterwards to take away whatever pain he caused. He instantly went to the buttons on Sam's shirt, undoing them and slipping his hands inside, feeling over the muscles and scars as he put them to memory. Sam Winchester was in his arms, kissing him, and he could not believe it. Snapping his fingers, he removed his jacket and shirt as well as Sams and went back to running his hands over the younger mans skin.

Sam pulled his lips away to catch his breath, but lowered his head so he could place a kiss, delicate, soft and loving on the scar that was still puckered and fresh, showing him that he loved him.

"S-Sam," Gabriel gasped, his nails digging into Sams back as the hunter rocked his hips against the angel, showing how much he wanted him. "If y' – oh, hell! – if ya keep doing th-that, I ain't gonna last."

"Then get us out of here," the Winchester groaned as he rocked again, swallowing the archangels gasp as he reclaimed his mouth as his own.

The man didn't need to be told twice. He snapped his fingers and moved them both to one of his homes, this one located somewhere in northern Europe, but right now it didn't matter. All he could think of was falling to his feet only to be forced backwards until his knees hit something. The smaller man fell back against his bed as the sasquatch that was kissing him threw him there, crawling over him and beginning to trail his lips over the angels body, laving his tongue over one of his nipples while one of his hands brushed over the tent in his jeans.

"S-Sam!" he screamed, arms flinging outwards as the humans lips trailed lower, tongue tracing his abs and one of his hands reaching out and snagging the angels wrists in their huge grasp, holding them above his head so as not to interfere. "You gotta – oh, damn, that's so good!"

"Is this enough, Gabe?" the hunter asked as he pulled off both of their jeans with his free hand, teeth clenched at the sight of the confined archangel beneath him. "What do I have to do to prove I love you – that we could work?"

The angels golden eyes remained clenched closed as he was freed of his everything except his boxers, the fabric annoying him into oblivion at their restriction. "Sam…"

Sam was finally out of his clothes, up to par with Gabriel and came to lie over him, pressing their hips together and grinning as both groaned, unable to contain their lust. "We could work, Gabe. I could… Hell, I have no idea of what to say, here."

"How about you don't say anything, and you find better use for that mouth of yours!" Gabriel challenged as he met Sams gaze, pupils blown wide and his body gasping for breath as the human pushed all of his buttons. "I love you, alright? That what you wanna hear? I **love you**, Sammy. To the edge of the earth and by my fathers' soul, I love you.

I will **always** love you!"

And that was all it took. The last shreds of fabric were removed and thrown to the floor as they laid claim upon the others body, marking it with their lips, fingers and love.


End file.
